1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to theater seating. More particularly, the invention relates to a theater chair designed to assume a reclined position when occupied and to automatically assume and maintain an upright position when unoccupied.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Theater chairs designed to permit an occupant to assume a reclined position upon occupying a seat wherein the reclining mechanism automatically returns the seat to its upright position and maintains that position when the chair is unoccupied are well known in the art. Unfortunately, however, such chairs heretofore have not been entirely satisfactory in terms of their durability, noise, ease of repair or comfort and safety to the occupant and those around him. The reasons for this vary from one design to another. In general, however, the frequent breakage of component parts of the reclining mechanism, the necessity of disassembly of adjacent chairs in order to gain access to and to repair damage or replace broken parts of a particular chair, and problems associated with the use of the chair by theatergoers are the most prevalent problems. Particular among the problems associated with chair usage are excessive noise, jamming of the reclining mechanism, and the danger of the chair occupant or those around him being injured. Heretofore such injuries have been caused, for example, by the entrapment of clothes, fingers, hands or feet in the reclining mechanism, or by the movement of the seat portion of the chair either in the course of its normal operation or as a result of the failure of a component part thereof.
Additional problems are presented for many individuals in arising from such prior chairs. This is because in conventional chairs of this type the seat portion shifts significantly towards the floor as the chair reclines. Hence, the occupant finds himself sitting below standard chair height, often in a position with his hips located below his knees. In order to arise from the chair, therefore, the occupant must pull himself upwardly and forwardly until his center of gravity is located substantially above his feet. This can be stressful and a great inconvenience, particularly to heavy or elderly theatergoers. Indeed, in some cases the only way such an individual can arise from these prior chairs is to twist himself sideways to the chair in order to thereby shift the location of his hips relative to his feet sufficiently to allow him to arise. The nature of these problems will be better understood with reference to the following summary of various of the reclining theater chairs of the prior art.
Typically, theater chairs include a pair of fixed, armrest supporting uprights and a seating unit mounted therebetween. The chairs generally are arranged in rows such that each seat shares at least one upright with the chair(s) adjacent thereto. The back and seat portions of the seating unit are attached to side support members, the back at a predetermined angle to the vertical and the seat substantially parallel to the horizontal. Also, if desired, the seat may include manual or spring means for pivoting the seat to a position generally parallel to the vertical when it is not in use. The side support members in turn are connected to the uprights and/or to reclining mechanisms which control the movement of the support members relative to the uprights. These reclining mechanisms have included (1) coil springs fixedly located within housings formed by the uprights having the support members attached to their inner ends; (2) leaf springs extending between the forward edges of the seat supports (or the forward edge of the seat portion) and the floor; (3) pivotally attaching the forward ends of the support members directly to the uprights and biasing the seat unit toward an upright position with either springs attached to the rear of the seating unit, or a torsion bar running between the points of pivotal attachment as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,281; and (4) a leaf spring formed of a composite material affixed at its forward and rear ends to the support and also connected adjacent its forward end to the upper end of a downwardly curved rocker plate attached to the adjacent upright. These reclining mechanisms are variously present in the art both with and without means for limiting the travel of the seat.
Each of these spring biasing means maintains the seat portion of the chair in its upright position in the absence of an occupant sitting in the chair. The geometry of these prior chair structures, however, is such that as soon as a prospective occupant sits upon the seat cushion, the seat portion of the chair tends to shift toward the floor and to tilt backward. Depending upon the strength of the biasing spring, this downward and backward movement may be quite fast thereby causing damage to the reclining mechanism and/or injury not only to the chair occupant, but also to an individual seated behind the chair. Similarly, in the event that the biasing spring and/or seat travel limiting means breaks or becomes dislodged, many of these chairs have no means for preventing the chair from flipping backwardly with consequent possible injury not only to the occupant, but also to those around him.